Copies
by KormaKeTe
Summary: <html><head></head>This is a Hayden/Bam (Bayden? Ham?) fic which takes place after UnSouled. Hayden and Bam take and active side against unwinding with Connor and Risa and fall in love along the way. This is my first fanfic and I will try to update as often as possible. Hope you like it. Does contain spoilers and references to the first three books.</html>
1. 1 Bam

**Disclaimer: No matter how much I love the unwind dystology, it is the property of Neal Shusterman.**

**Author's note: This is the beginning of the beginning of my fanfiction writing so I hope you like it. This is mostly dialogue which, I am generally not good at but I think I did well in this case. Please check for updates and feel free to give constructive criticism.**

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><p>I know that listening to Hayden is dangerous. If Starkey ever found out how much we knew we would be hung just like the people from Moon Crater harvest camp. Since the first assault on a harvest camp, Starkey has led many more. Too many in fact. And Cate-Lynn, Emalee and Makayla are only becoming even more insufferable with every attack. As if <em>they<em> actually helped. Thoughts like that are the ones that float freely around my head as I walk towards the computer room where Hayden and I agreed to meet.

I enter the computer room five minutes before the agreed time. Lo and Behold, Hayden is already there, sitting in front of the crude fan, his blond hair and braces reflecting light from the candle he is passing his finger through, yet not burning.

"So do we have any way to stop Starkey yet, pyro?" I ask by way of greeting.

"Nice to see you too Bambi, and please, don't make the same mistake as Connor. Boredom is very different from obsession" he smirks, waiting my reply.

"Call me that again and your nose will make a lovely display in this very room" I say back.

"Not as lovely as your face," he smirks again. I decide that I that smirk more than I hate proactive citizenry. You can never tell if he's being serious or sarcastic. I pick sarcastic in this case. Someday, I want to see if he is actually able to change his facial expression, even for a moment.

"So in the real world, any info?" I ask.

"What? Is this dingy room if not part of the real world?" He says sounding slightly offended, "But yes. I do have a plan."

"Really!" I exclaim, abandoning my instincts and showing emotions further than those of anger and annoyance, "what?"

"Well, do you remember your dear friends Connor Lassiter and Risa Ward back from our days in the graveyard?"

"The one who fired me from working in the kitchen because I gave everyone food poisoning and his girlfriend in the wheelchair?"

"Food poisoning is a serious issue," he protested, "And the girlfriends not in the wheelchair anymore."

"I know, I know," I roll my eyes, "But how, are they relevant?"

"Well my friend, they have possibly discovered a way to end unwinding forever"

"Forever?" Hayden has me hooked. I need to hear this.

"But I couldn't find details."

"So were at a dead end?"

"No, we're going back to see the dragon lady! You should be thrilled."

His eyes sparkled to the extent of appearing maniacal and I suddenly felt as though I could go anywhere with him, whoever the dragon lady was.

"Can't wait," I say in response.

"But Bambi, meet me here tomorrow to discuss escape."

"Why?" I ask, "You already have a plan."

"Yes, but I need to confirm some final details." I can tell that he just wants me to wait and that annoys me more than it should.

"You are-" I begin.

"Insufferable? A genius? A victim of unfortunate circumstance? A morlock? Yes, I am."

"A morlock?"

"Meet you here after Starkey's meeting." And I can't tell if it's a question or a request but I nod as he walks out. I follow, there's no point of me being here.


	2. 2 Starkey

**Disclaimer: No characters, locations or themes of unwind belongs to me.**

**Author's note: This is a **_**very**_** short chapter which I will follow up ASAP. I hope this captures Starkey's bad-guy-who-thinks-he's-the-best personality. Please give me constructive criticism on this.**

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><p>As I walk into the room where the meeting takes place I notice that everyone gathered falls silent. Giggling stops, arguments are paused. And I know that all eyes are on their wonderful leader. Me.<p>

One boy yells 'aye aye captain' and a girl in the corner continues to hum a song I have never heard before until she comprehends the silence. Aside from that, everyone is totally alert, despite the casual way I just walked in. someday, I hope to build a trapdoor so I can rise up, just like the saviour of storks should. That would be a sight to see. Power and showiness in a few seconds that keep the stork brigade alert and interested.

"I have brought all my most trusted storks here today to discuss the next assault on a harvest camp," I begin triumphantly, as though I have already won.

"Which camp?" I hear someone yell. I don't recognise the voice and I can tell he is a new member to the stork brigade, no doubt about it. He would need to respect me further if he wanted to go far.

"We are currently unsure of the exact name but the harvest camp is located in Tallmage, Ohio. We will ambush six days from now. Make sure you are ready and that everyone you know is ready for this attack. This one will certainly create profit which we all want," and I know they did. More fans mean more money which means better bathrooms, more food and better still, obedient unwinds.

"Train hard everybody, but above all, aim to make storked kids more important than the regular ones," smiles of approval meet the last comment, "be ready for further information as we approach the day."

A round of applause greets this short speech and I dismiss everybody except for Hayden and Bam who steal a glance after their names are said. I would bet my hippocampus that they thought I missed it. The two of them both underestimate me. One of their fatal flaws. They think I am just the face for storked kids, but really, I am a strategist, like a chess player about to make a crucial move.

A move that just might lead to a checkmate.


	3. 3 Starkey

**Disclaimer: Everything from the unwind dystology belongs to Neal Shusterman**

**Author's note: More conversations. Which I **_**hope**_** are well written. Please review/follow/fave, etc**

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><p>After the stork brigade has milled out, only Hayden and Bam remain. Bam stands with impeccable posture, her tough exterior entirely on show. Her arms are crossed and her jaw is hard. Sometimes I think it would be good if she didn't look quite so strong. People would trust her. She could be like my second in command. I could take half the storks to one place, she could lead the other half, but no. Even if people would take her in as one of their own I doubt she would want to be a leader.<p>

Hayden is even less likely to want leadership. He's the one with bucket loads of sarcasm ready to dump on everyone and deep questions which he watches everyone else answer before giving his answer, 'I honestly don't know.' I guess it is an answer, but he drives me crazy. He isn't a real storked kid either. He has his own rich mummy and daddy who loved him so much and always gave him the best of everything. I hate him, but I need his trust and I want it to extend both ways.

I talk to Bam first, with Hayden outside.

"Hey," she greets me oozing out sullenness.

"Hello," I say back, no more coolly than her, "as you know, we are launching an attack on a harvest camp soon."

"Are you assuming I missed the whole of the meeting just then?" she says, now sounding more bored than ever.

"You also know that I am placing more and more trust in you. You have been part of this group since it was the stork club hiding right under Connor's nose and have remained by my side as we gathered more and more people and metamamorphed into the stork brigade. I want you to stand by me at Texas, know that you are the most loyal of all."

"I am taking this a sign of straying loyalty. You never used to talk to me like you were giving a speech and I think it was better when you called be Bam instead of 'you'. Even Bambi is better than being referred to as nothing more than the audience to your speech," I open my mouth but she cuts me off before I can begin.

"I'm still not afraid to black your eye if you call me that," and I smile, because she still is the same, even if she doesn't realise.

"So will you?" I ask, this time trying a 'friendly' approach.

"Yes," she says and strides out of the room before I am even given the chance to say something.

Hayden strides in only a few seconds later.

"My enemy's enemy who I hope is my friend," he says in the same way someone would greet their fans.

"And that is what I wanted to talk about," I say, pleased that he had accidently provided a way to start this conversation, "I feel as though neither of us truly trusts one another. I don't want us to be like that. My enemy's enemy should remain you but you should also be my friend."

"Friend might be pushing it," he says back, "But only a little bit," he smirks.

"But can you see what an effective team we could be?"

"The thing about unwinds, is that there is usually at least some reason why they were unwound to do with personality flaws. Me, my parents loved me too much, but I doubt that you were quite as wondrous as I was. I believe your flaw was ignorance. Your 'fan pages?' Guess what? They are making the juveys more and more powerful and you may be making the end of unwinding impossible," he leans forward, "No matter how great I could make our team, I couldn't stand for it."

"Then why do you help me?" the question makes him hesitate for a moment.

"Everyone will make decisions based on self-preservation. Good or bad. This is one of mine," and he smirks again before striding out as arrogantly as he did in.

"By the way," he continues, "the word is metamorphosed."

One win, one partial loss.

And at least I now know Hayden thinks of me as a threat to his survival and not just a joke.


	4. 4 Hayden

**Disclaimer: Unwind is the brainchild and the property of Neal Shusterman. It is his.**

**Author's note: Hope you like this chapter. I don't think it entirely cover's Hayden's mindset, but I will work on that. Thanks for reading.**

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><p>I should've given better answers, I think as I head back to the computer room. Why didn't I just use my 'infuriate-everyone-until-I-can-leave technique?' The computer room still looks obsolete when I walk back in. I'm surprised they haven't spent any money on it. Yes, I do know that Starkey hates me, but he has no objection to Jeeves. I don't know why, it's impossible to talk to him but at least he listens. Yes, that must be why. Jeeves is the worlds most loyal minion and he doesn't even realise.<p>

Bam is sitting on a useless table when I walk in.

"You better not have stuffed up that meeting as badly as I did," I say.

"Did you threaten to kill him?" She asks, half laughing.

"I told him he was ignorant and I couldn't stand him," I say back.

"Good for you," Bam tells me and I am pleased, "Me, I told him I would stand by him even though the thought makes me feel sick. But before that I told him that I felt like he didn't trust me."

"Let's hope that worked to your advantage, I don't know about how Starkey's brain works but hopefully it works logically to the very least."

"Starkey may be evil, but not brainless," she confirms and I feel a stab of annoyance.

"So what's your plan?" Bam asks.

"Ahh… So you have succumbed to the suspense brought by yours truly," I say, widening my smirk. Bam rolls her eyes and I shrug back.

"Yeah, if you say so."

"Well, I have managed to find the approximate locations of both Connor and Risa and, by even more searching, I have discovered that they probably have a weapon of some sort which will save us from the evils of fate, also known as unwinding."

"That may be great and all, but how do we get to them?"

"I was just coming to that. In five days, when we assault the harvest camp we escape from the group of fake our deaths and then I will take you to the suspected location of Connor and Risa."

"So where _is_ the camp?"

"Nowhere other than Akron, the very place where Connor became famous, taking the starring role in rumours and wanted posters everywhere," I exclaim, "We end up free and actually doing something and Starkey just ends up stuffed. Pride cometh before a fall. Starkey will have to do his own work and he won't even have you to threaten unruly unwinds into submission. He's bringing this upon himself while _we_ will help end unwinding forever."

"How do we know that you won't be caught. I mean, no one has seen me, but for a while you were all over the place."

"You have to think of everything that could go wrong?" I am lost for ideas but I don't want to say that, "How about you come up with something," I say as if it is a challenge, Bam takes it.

"well, umm… One. You can disguise yourself as a girl," she smirks

"Option two?" I ask.

"You can dye your hair, get pigment injections, even piercings maybe, but we'd need to find someone for that."

"Is there an option three?" Of course there is one: going on the edge, moving in fear-my favourite option. But I want to hear her answer.

"As of yet, no. If you think of anything better feel free to share."

"You know what, beggar's can't be choosers. We can work out option one or two on the day."

"Okay," She says, "But if I end up worse off than I am here, you're going to hell."

"I'm glad for your positivity, personally I was beginning to believe I was already there."

"you might be," she says solemnly, and then she leaves.


	5. 5 Bam

**Disclaimer: The unwind series does not belong to me.**

**Author's note: Hi, this chapter is set five days after the previous chapter, at the time of attack/escape. I hope you like it. Shoutouts to girlcalledlola01 and creepysuru for reviewing my story.**

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><p>Jeevan was actually he one who came up with the plan for assaulting the next harvest camp, but Hayden was the one who refined it and then took credit, just as he had when he practically <em>lived<em> in the ComBom. But the concept didn't belong to Jeevan either, the attack plan was actually inspired by clappers, or their cause: chaos.

The plan was to take out all the guards using tranquilisers, then create chaos amongst the unwinds. We would start food fights, throw balls at the people doing sport, trip people over, all while yelling stuff about how bad unwinding people, especially storks, was. Apparently the yelling was supposed to encourage mob psychology, but I didn't really know. Then we would lead them away from the harvest camp and Starkey would perform because he was born for attention. In theory, it would be easy to escape from the camp to meet Connor and Risa. The only part of that plan which could possibly upset the escape was the fact that Starkey wanted me to be by him at all times.

Part one of the plan worked and chaos soon filled the entire harvest camp. I followed Starkey like a loyal minion and he treated me like nothing more. In that moment, I decided that I really did hate Starkey. I hadn't hated him when he took my job, or had a short temper, I hadn't even truly hated him when he stopped referring to me as an individual person. But now I realised how much I did.

A tomato came hurtling towards me but I dodged leaving tomato pulp all through Starkey's hair. I smiled at the sight of the shiny yellow seeds scattered through his dyed red hair and whipped my head around to see who had thrown the tomato. I turned back and saw Hayden smiling crazily. He was wearing the uniform of a doctor and had even covered his face with a mask. I needed to get to him to escape but only one plan of action seemed possible.

I gestured crazily for Hayden to turn around before leaning towards Starkey.

"See that doctor there," I say, pointing at the back of Hayden's head, "He was my brother," I lie. "He was the embodiment of the irritating child who_ always_ made me look like I _should've_ been unwound," I'm no longer entirely lying. I did have a brother, and he did just that except, instead of blond hair, his hair had been the colour of caramel. The exact shade that my adoptive parents shared. "Please," I continue, "let _me_ show him what a lowlife like that deserves." And I tranq Hayden, not because I want to, but because it creates the effect that I really would be willing to do everything it takes to show my brother why he should've been the unwind, not me.

Starkey looks an odd mix of pleased and amused. "Go," Starkey says coldly, "Whatever it takes."

I run over to Hayden, and because Starkey is watching, kick his side. Not hard enough to hurt him, but hard enough to convince Starkey. Maybe he'll end up with a nice purple bruise but hopefully he won't because physical injuries will only slow us down.

As soon as Starkey turns his back, I push Hayden into the next room. I remove the tranq bullet and after about ten, maybe fifteen minutes. Hayden begins to regain consciousness.

"You had to shoot me?" He asks.

"Sorry."

Which lends to an awkward pause.

"Let's get out of here," I say, "And keep the mask, it obscures your face," then I realise how that could've sounded, "from juvies and stuff," I finish.

Hayden smirks, now conscious enough to run into the woods, towards the heart of Akron so we run to the place where I hope we should be heading. I can only hope that we will stay safe.


	6. 6 Bam

**Disclaimer: No matter how much I wish It did, unwind does not belong to me**

**Author's note: Reading over, I've realised that Hayden had been a little bit OOC, I'm trying to change that, but I'm not sure if I quite did so in this chapter. These paragraphs are a little disconnected, sorry. If you need more description, Locks & Beagles is a little bit like Dolores Umbridge's office, but instead of cats, dogs.**

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><p>"You had to shoot me," Hayden keeps complaining, "Only with the weakest tranquilizer bullet which only lasted about ten minutes, but really?" he seemed physically incapable to deal with the fact that I had tranquilized him although he would've hesitated to do the same for me. Eventually, I decided punching him was overdue but I refrained, telling him to shut up and get us to wherever in hell we were headed. Surprisingly, this worked.<p>

At least we had escaped, even if Hayden kept complaining. Not collaborating with the enemy, a.k.a Mason Starkey, for any longer suited me and Hayden perfectly and we were getting closer to Centre North High every day, although where we were going afterwards was still unknown to me. No matter how much I threatened, Hayden guarded that information like it was the key to ending unwinding and I was Proactive Citizenry.

At least Hayden had changed out of his medical staff uniform but was still wearing the mask, which did look odd, but somehow, it managed to fit with the story I had come up with. The cover story wasn't as good as the Egret Academy history, but it would do. Our names were Taylor and Joseph Anderson and the two of us were siblings who lived on Brown Street. Hayden suffered from Hyperlogalgia syndrome, which was very, very contagious and needed to be fixed immediately. It also didn't exist but, we hoped, sounded convincing. He was on the waiting list for a new lung so, for now, covering his face in all public places would stop the spread of disease.

It was actually a good cover story but it didn't account for the fact we looked nothing alike. However, that fact could only be changed by altering our physical appearance and there was no way in this sorry excuse for a world that I was dying my hair blond. So, Hayden was going to have his hair dyed the same colour as mine-preferably for as little money as possible and at the next possible opportunity.

That chance came at Locks & Beagles, a ridiculous looking place with the walls painted a garish shade of pink and covered in pictures of malnourished dogs that could fit in a handbag and always seem to belong to prissies. I didn't really want to go in but it was the closest place we could find, so we entered.

"Hi, I'm Audrey," said the woman at the front desk.

"Taylor and Joseph," I say back, "He's getting his hair dyed brown today."

"Is there discount if you don't insist on receiving makeovers with an emaciated Pomeranian?" Hayden smirks from behind me. Recognition registers on Audrey's face.

"Not as much as the discounts I give to AWOL's." I breathe in sharply. We had been discovered.

She gestures for Hayden to move towards her. He obliges.

"Hayden, is it?" He nods, "You know Risa, don't you?" He nods again. I begin to feel as though we shouldn't have come here. "Risa came past a while ago. She would be pleased to know that you haven't died yet." I decide it would be a good idea to interrupt.

"So are you helping us or not?"

"Come here," she says, seating Hayden down. Then Audrey begins the process of turning his hair the same colour as mine. While she works, she is totally focused there is no trace of the woman who could've turned us in, she just does her job. It's odd really, but this reminds me of the time I bleached Starkey's hair. Starkey's blond hair had been almost the same colour as Hayden's was the last time I saw them together, and now, Hayden's hair was almost the same colour as Starkey's brown roots had been. They had truly become interchanged in my mind within that moment.

Then she proceeds to give us both curly hair because Hayden is still recognisable and if he gets curly hair, then, as his fake sister, I must have curly hair too. We are both unrecognisable by the time she is done with us and I don't look as bad as I could've.

When she finishes with the two of us, she offers for us to stay with her for a night. We take her offer, if she wanted to turn us in, she could've done so while we were unable to attack or at least we could hope.


	7. 7 Bam

**Disclaimer: No part of the Unwind dystology belongs to me.**

**Author's note: This a very short chapter because I split it from the previous one. Most of this was written while listening to music I dislike; I hope you like this much more than I liked that music.**

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><p>When night falls, Hayden sleeps easily. I can't. I find Audrey organising downstairs.<p>

"Why did you help us?" I ask, "You could've received enough money to never work again if you had turned us in."

"My son," she says sounding much wearier than she had.

"What happened to him?"

"Ever since he arrived on my doorstep I loved him."

"I was a stork too," I tell her although I'm not sure why, "But my parent's hated me."

"Well, my son was diagnosed with stomach cancer which was spreading rapidly, to his liver, pancreas, he was so close to dying," I want to say something comforting, but I didn't know what. "Doctors told me that giving him an unwinds organs would be the only way to save him, so he got those organs in an instant, all thanks to me. He's still alive today and that just fills me with happiness but sometimes I wonder about that poor kid who was unwound to save my son. If there had been any other way…" she shakes her head, "Now I'm helping AWOL's because really, the solution of unwinding is worse than the problems it solves."

Audrey collapses into a chair and I try to comfort her.

"You couldn't have saved your son any other way," I tell her.

"I know, but intent isn't quite everything in this world."

I nod sympathetically because I know that all too well. Starkey's intent was good enough but his way of making all storks loved by their adoptive parents wasn't l in any way. It made the problem worse.

"You need to find that way to end unwinding forever, before it becomes impossible to solve," Audrey tells me.

"I will," I tell her with a newfound strength and then I begin to walk out because I can tell that those memories of her son are close to her, "Thank you," I say when I reach the stairwell, "for everything."

"Be safe," she tells me, "and don't let Hayden give up," which is as cryptic a statement as it could possibly.

I want to ask how I would be able to stop Hayden from giving up but the idea is too foreign. It doesn't work that way. He's the one who keeps me going with his sardonic comments and Stork Lord salutes. I'm just the one who comes along, like a traveling audience. I don't know where we're headed or what could be so special there. I'm probably closer to giving up. Hope only goes so far. Not letting Hayden give up is beyond me, but I don't want to dash away Audrey's smile so I just walk back and sleep.


	8. 8 Sonia

**Disclaimer: If the unwind dystolgy belonged to me, I would not be writing fanfiction. I would be reading Undivided because, if I were Neal Shusterman, Undivided would already be released in Australia.**

**Author's note: my last two chapters were not great, so, sorry for that. I'm blaming crappy music. I've also assumed that nothing major happens to Bam or Hayden while finding the antique store so they will arrive in this chapter unscathed. Hope you like, if you do (or even if you don't), please review, support from random readers always makes me want to write more of this.**

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><p>No one cares about buying antique furniture anymore. The store has just sunk into the street and for the attention it gets, it may as well be just another wall. The number of people who glance at the store in passing has halved. The number of people who then walk in is decreasing and of those who get to that stage, hardly anyone buys anything and when they do, items never go for their true worth, always below.<p>

People just stressed about whether shelling should be made legal or the unwinding age should be brought back up to eighteen. After the voting had been rescheduled, the tension had only built and nothing seemed to calm it down. After Proactive Citizenry had gotten Cam back they only became more and more intolerable, flaunting him around all important events as though he was an expensive new clothing line. Attacks at harvest camps had become a frequent thing, clapper attacks became more and more frequent, some attacks were no longer even deemed newsworthy but despite all that I was helping two of the most notorious AWOL's of all time.

And there was the organ printer which could end unwinding forever.

I always tried to push thoughts of that out of my head. As though Proactive Citizenry could trace thoughts like that. Or maybe because it reminded me of Janson and his crazy endevours which were meant to save the world, and Austin, that poor boy who had been living proof of the machines worth. I lean further over the counter, wondering what an alternate universe without unwinding would be like, it was always difficult to remember the days when unwinding hadn't even been thought of. But maybe the teen uprisings would still be going on.

A chime sounds as the door is opened and a two teenagers with curly brown hair walk in. They look around eighteen, old enough to be safe from unwinding. They weren't sent here by Hannah. Something about the boy clicks in my head but I can't quite recall. Old age and forgetfulness is one of the major banes of my life.

"Hayden?" I ask. There's something about his facial features and perfectly straight teeth that triggers the memory.

"Sonia, our temporary guardian who may or may not be safeguarding Connor, Risa and Roland's arm with some superb weapon of sorts." I know it's him as soon as he speaks and I'm overwhelmed with emotion. I draw him into a hug, just as I had with Risa, so happy that he was still alive and as far away from the undivided state as possible.

The girl clears her throat and we pull apart.

"You can call me Bam," she says.

"Or Bambi," Hayden smirks at her. She shoots him a murderous glance. I can tell there's something between them, maybe from travelling together like Connor and Risa or perhaps for another reason.

I guide them to the basement where I hid the AWOL's. On the way, the two fill me in on how they got here. Mason Starkey, the reason for the strengthening of harvest camp security, had released Hayden from where he was going to have been shelled from. Their allegiance changed (well, Hayden convinced Bam that Starkey's side was the wrong one) then they managed to find me using two leads online. They escaped during the attack on the Akron harvest camp where Bam had tranqed Hayden (which was heavily emphasised by Hayden). Then they changed their appearance, and eventually found me.

We reach the bottom of the staircase and I toss Hayden a can of spam which he is devours in an instant.

"You can stay here until tomorrow," I tell them.

"And then?" Bam asks while Hayden looks up from the can.

"Then I take you to the rest of them," I say.

They nod like obedient school children and I walk back up the stairs.

There is no way of telling whether they are now worse off than before, but I can hope they aren't, if just for their sake.


	9. 9 Hayden

**Disclaimer: All characters, events, etc. from UnWind UnWholly and UnSouled belong to Neal Shusterman, he should build an alter so that common folk may worship in song and sacrifice (yay-UnSouled reference!)**

**Author's Note: Another reunion, Hayden's POV and dialogue. Could I have made this chapter any harder for myself to write? One again, apologies for Hayden's OCC-ness, I am not a sardonic 18 year old male, nor do I write about them often, especially in first person sorry.**

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><p>If there had been one thing I could change about my life, I would've begun eating spam earlier in my tragic and, so far, rather short lifetime. If there was one thing I would be able to change about the world, unwinding wouldn't be happening. No, if there was one thing I would be able to change about the world I would choose to change the fact that I am only able to change one thing about the world. I would eliminate unwinding, then I would kill the Stork Lord. But right now, I'm stuck in a car with a woman who I called the dragon lady for a brief amount of time and a girl who was not punching me and probably thinks I'm an asshole.<p>

We roll up in front of a large house where a middle-aged woman holding a baby greets us.

"Hannah," Sonia greets, "these ones know some of the people staying with you."

"Of course," she says, walking us into her house. The furnishings are nice enough but the first person who I am pleased to see is Connor, talking to a girl with light brown hair and green eyes. Someone who looks suspiciously like Risa.

"Hayden?" Connor asks.

"Nice socks," I say and we hold back our laughter, "still deprived from experiencing the divided state, I see, I really wonder if they're trying and is that Risa? Audrey _did_ do a good job on you" I say.

"So did she find you as well?" Risa asks.

"No, the two of us were posing as siblings and we just so happened to walk into Locks and Beagles," I say in a tone that may or may not be sarcastic just to annoy them.

Risa shoots me a questioning glance and I smirk consendingly.

"Is that baby Didi?" I ask.

"Yeah," Connor says, "But Hannah renamed her Deidre"

"Who's baby is it?" Bam asks from behind me.

"Theirs," I say, going along with the act.

"Uh huh," nods Risa

"Since when did you have a baby?"

"She's not actually ours," Risa says, "she was a stork that Connor picked up."

"Not one of my most self-preserving moments," Connor says sounding rather dignified. We talk for a little bit longer, glad to see one another but also a little tense.

"So have you or haven't you found a way to end unwinding forever?" Bam asks eventually, the question with an answer which would have to be yes.

"We have," says the woman playing with Didi. She's in her early twenties and I hadn't noticed before.

"This is Grace," Risa says.

"Do you remember when I asked you to research Janson Rheinschild?" Connor says looking at me.

"Yeah," I nod, "but we found nothing."

"Well, Lev managed to find some stuff which led us here."

"How'd Lev find stuff?" I say, not because I doubt his abilities but discovering deleted webpages is not his forte.

"It's not so much that he found it as he misspelt 'you tube' and 'you tub' and we found an article where he was referred to as Reignschild. And Sonia was in the picture."

"Well, I came here because it was like a last safe place," Risa says.

"I came with Connor, Lev and Cam," said Grace.

"The re-wind?" I say, "Did you accidently kill him?" because I wouldn't put _that_ past anyone.

"Proactive-citizenry found him and took him away."

"How did the re-wind end up with you anyway?"

"It turned out that a member of his internal community-"

"Anyone who uses the term internal community can go to hell," Bam phrases perfectly.

"Nicely said," I say back to her but she just rolls her eyes.

"The part of his brain that does algebra had a crush on Risa so when it was reported that she was travelling with me he found us."

"Because that makes sense," I say.

"So what the massive weapon you found which could end unwinding forever," Bam says.

"It's not exactly a weapon," Risa says.

"And that is the genius of it," Grace says excitedly, I can practically smell the anticipation, "It's an organ printer-it makes unwinding totally unnecessary but still gives everybody access to fresh new parts."

"But proactive-citizenry burnt every blueprint, machine there's only one prototype left and we can't risk that getting destroyed as well."

"So what do we do when we have the most powerful object in existence but can't give it to the wrong people?" Bam asks. She makes it sound rhetorical, but the truth is, it isn't.

"We make sure _everybody_ knows what it is and what proactive citizenry has done," I say and that answer makes everybody smile, "We need to make this machine unavoidable, everybody must know that there is another way."


	10. 10 Connor

**Disclaimer: Only the plot is mine, if you haven't picked up on that then you should really have read this properly on every single previous chapter.**

**Authors Note: Greetings readers. Hi. Anyway, I am so sorry I haven't updated for a while but we had tests and NANOWRIMO (yay, finished!) and my copy of Undivided arrived. (It was amazing, but I am not going to add any spoilers to this story-promise) Anyways, how about you just read this and I'll thank you very much for your undivided support (sorry…bad puns. They were irresistible) Bye.**

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><p>I don't know how I should take Hayden's arrival. Yes, he seems to know what he's doing and he does have some sort of plan to help end unwinding but I don't know if I can deal with sarcastic comments right now. In an ideal world unwinding would never have become an option and instead, I would be next to Risa, but maybe that would be too peaceful. I'm not great with peaceful, but it never really matters. The highway overpass is haunting my dreams. Peace disguised as danger, where I could sit there listening to trucks zooming pass. If my parents had never signed me over to the harvesters, I think I would be sitting there right now. It's more difficult than it should be for me to stay in the present when my world is being torn up piece by piece.<p>

Hayden has insisted that he sees the organ printer. I volunteered myself to go with him. Sonia's five minutes late but we don't really need to worry. She's not the sort of person to stick to timetables like they're her life source. Hayden and I sit near one another with Risa. Risa stares at the door and I want to know what she's thinking about. I half want to put my arm around her and kiss her for all it's worth but I restrain myself. Hayden sits a bit further away. I doubt anyone could even attempt to work out what he's thinking about. He could be thinking about spam or he could be thinking about the end of the world or he could be thinking of any number of other things. Sonia's car rolls in front of Hannah's house and I stand up. Risa's hand brushes past mine.

"Stay safe," she says, looking across to me.

"I will," I tell her trying to sound unafraid.

"Especially since you're not driving," she adds.

I can't come up with a retort fast enough so I just smile at her.

Hayden and I climb into the car. We're sitting in the back and the windows are tinted pretty dark but I still feel slightly afraid just sitting there without any more protection from juvies than a seatbelt and a soft drink can.

"So do you know what you're doing?" I ask Hayden.

"Depends," he says.

"On what?" I ask.

"The question for one thing. Do I know what I'm doing with what? The spam in Sonia's basement? Yes. The organ printer? Maybe. My life? Unfortunately, no."

"Neither do I," I say.

"I doubt anyone does," he says, "not really."

"Starkey seems to," I say pointing at a newspaper thrown onto the ground.

"He doesn't count."

I consider asking him another question, but instead, we sit in silence until we reach the antique store. Sonia herds us out like we're geese and the attention is nicer hat we usually get from other people.

When Sonia pulls out the organ printer, I seem to hold my breath, as does Hayden. It's my second time seeing it but I still feel shivers crawling down my spine as though my entire body knows how important the obsolete looking printer really is.

"Can we make more of them?" Hayden asks.

I open my mouth but Sonia gets ahead of me, "Maybe, but all the blueprints were destroyed and we have no proof it works."

"Always the optimist," Hayden smirks.

"I can probably try to take it apart. See how it works," I don't know why I'm offering, the first time that was suggested I didn't know what to say, Just one slip up could mean that any way to solve our problem would be snatched away from us.

"Good," Hayden smiles. He turns to Sonia. "You don't happen to have a computer with working military software's, do you?" He asks.

"No," she says, "but I know how we can get access to some."

"Perfect," He says and I fell like he is right, whatever he is planning on doing.


	11. 11 Risa

**Disclaimer: No part of the Unwind Dystology belongs to me.**

**Author's note: Hi! New chapter, Yay! 'Guest' told me to 'write about Connor and Risa' I'm assuming that that meant as a couple which is included in this chapter and will probably be included in future chapters. Lucky you 'guest'. If you meant 'Connor and Risa' as in point of view then you'll get more of that as well. Review/follow/fav and I will be grateful.**

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><p>I walk back into Hannah's living room to see Grace playing with Didi. Or Deidre, apparently. Who knows how many times I've wished I could enter that Shangri-La Grace finds while doing nothing but playing with Didi. Even better, I could be Didi, oblivious to the dangers tearing up the mess America has turned into. Instead, I'm stuck worrying. Worrying about Connor and the next stupid decision he's going to make, the danger Sonia is putting herself in and countless other things. Sometimes I even find myself worrying about Cam, but never for long. He's proactive citizenry's new pet dog. They'll look after him, no matter how insignificant he probably really is. I walk over to the lolly jar perched near Grace and pick one out. Apple flavour. Somehow, Grace's alphabetical order technique seems best in this case. Easiest, least troublesome.<p>

Bam sits on a sofa with a stony expression on her face. It was obvious she wanted to leave the house and see the organ printer but she hadn't been allowed. It was too dangerous with all the extra security. She pointed out that having Connor come was possibly more dangerous than having her come but no one wanted to change their minds.

"So I'm guessing this is very different to being in the stork club?" I asked.

"Yeah."

"Is that a good thing, or a bad thing?"

"Both," she said. "And neither."

"Of course it is," I said glancing back to the lolly jar.

"It's peaceful, I guess and that's a good thing but I'm so used to at least doing stuff."

"Like parading after Starkey while he goes around on his death rampages?"

"All hail the Stork Lord," she said, rolling her eyes. "I'm fine with this," she said, gesturing around the room. "Sitting here and doing nothing."

"You're dealing better than Connor," I admit. "Maybe even me," I say with a sigh.

"What's he doing now?"

"Spending every moment thinking about how being stuck in this house is wasted and how we should be doing something to end unwinding. He can't just stop and appreciate the calm."

"and you?"

"Similar sort of thing," I say. "But I'm doing a better job of convincing myself that no one is just going to come bursting through to put us in some harvest camp." It's the truth, but not quite. I don't bother to tell her about how my spine makes me feel like no more than another one of Proactive Citizenry's pawns or how most nights I can't fall asleep thinking about all those kids who found sanctuary in the graveyard until they were dragged off to be unwound. I don't tell her about how I just can't deal with anything, about how I feel like I'm faking every moment of my life because not telling people about my problems always seemed to work in the past.

"I think they're here," she says, realising that it's easier to point out something obvious rather than comfort someone who doesn't need comforting.

I jump up and walk to the door, waiting for Connor to come through. Hopefully safe, hopefully sound, but when unwinding is an option the only thing you can do is hope. He walks through with an expression on his face that I have become much too used to. The one associated with another problem added to the amassment of sorrows lingering on his shoulders. Even so, I want to be happy to see him so as he walks through the door frame a fling my arms around him and burry my head in his shoulders. I can tell he feels the weight lifting, but I know it will drop back onto him if I ever stop so I hold on, for his sake as well as mine. His lips meet my cheekbone before I kiss him back, this time, full on his lips. When we stop, the world goes back to the dangerous place it was and the kiss fades to a memory.

Hayden snickers before walking off. "No, keep going, we're only in imminent danger right here." He strolls off and I can feel my cheeks heating up.

"I love you," Connor tells me.

"I love you too," I say back to him. I feel like pointing out the danger we're in but I can't bring myself to. "Stay whole," I opt for.

"You too," he says, leaving me feeling a wave of emotions from elation to calmness but not showing them with any more than a smile because with his instinct and my brains, we did make a pretty good team.


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